


fair game

by wonderwheelzier



Category: IT - Stephen King, Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Flirting, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-12
Updated: 2019-08-12
Packaged: 2020-08-19 14:43:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,105
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20211469
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wonderwheelzier/pseuds/wonderwheelzier
Summary: response to this ask: "Wheelzier!! Richie works at the fair and un rigs the games for Mike!! (Secretly but still tries to flirt his but off)"





	fair game

**Author's Note:**

> i'm @wonderwheelzier on tumblr hmu lol

Richie sat on the counter of the booth he ran, people-watching as he did with about eighty percent of his time at work. He liked the part of his job where he got to heckle people into throwing balls at bottles, but it mostly made them walk away and avert their eyes rather than actually goading them into playing. Most people had learned to just happen to glance away while passing booth games. So that left Richie to find entertainment in the crowds that passed him by while he counted the minutes until he could head home with a funnel cake in one hand and a lemonade in the other.

At this particular moment, Richie couldn’t help but overhear an amusing if rather familiar squabble going on across the thoroughfare. There was a redhead girl with an amused smirk on her lips insisting, “There’s no way you could win any prize from any of these games.” 

Facing her was a super cute guy with fluffy black hair and his arms crossed. He got adorably huffy as he shot back, “Okay, I definitely could! I just don’t wanna waste my money on this rigged bullshit!” 

“It’s not a waste if you win a prize like you’re saying you could.” 

Cute Guy looked over to the other guy who was with them - Redhead’s boyfriend, by the looks of his hand on her waist - but he looked more entertained than anything and only offered Cute Guy a helpless shrug. Cute Guy huffed at Cool Guy taking his girlfriend’s side and continued to come up with defenses and excuses. “I don’t wanna have to carry some stupid stuffed animal around for the rest of the night!” 

“Oh my god, Mike, just admit that you’d be hopeless at it!”

Ah, so his name was Mike. Cute.

“I would not be hopeless at it!”

“Then prove it!”

“Hey, Red,” Richie called with a grin, “you doin’ my job for me?” He saw a mischievous glint in the girl’s eyes as she met his gaze. 

“See? Everyone wants to see you try!” she giggled, pushing a now blushing Mike toward the game.

“Max, this is so dumb,” he grumbled - lowly, but Richie still caught it. “Lucas, come on, don’t you wanna go on some rides or get food or something?”

“Nah, I wanna see this,” Lucas chuckled.

“Aw, is someone scared to embarrass himself?” Max teased, giving Mike a friendly little shake.

As they came up to the booth, Mike looked up at Richie, his grumpy countenance dropping into something wide-eyed and shy. His eyes were a deep brown, and the purple lights from the booth reflected in them, emphasizing their natural shine.  _ Be still my beating heart _ , Richie thought to himself. “Howdy,” he grinned. “Mike, right?” Mike just nodded, his silence a stark contrast to how mouthy he had just been. “I’m Richie. The game’s really not that hard, scouts honor.” Richie held up three fingers in a salute. The way Mike eyed his fingers had Richie’s own skin growing hot under his company t-shirt.

“Yeah, Mike, c’mon,” Lucas encouraged him. “You got this!”

After another moment of consideration, Mike conceded with a mumbled, “You guys are paying for it,” much to Max and Lucas’s delight. Max dug around in her pockets and fished out a five, which she handed to Richie. Richie clapped and hopped off the counter. As he placed three balls in Mike’s hands, he told him, “Don’t worry, even if you miss you’ll still be cute.” He threw in a wink, and his chest swelled when Mike ducked his head and grinned, a bright blush on his cheeks.

“Do you flirt with everyone you want five dollars from?”

“Hey, I didn’t take five dollars from  _ you _ ,” he pointed out with an arched eyebrow. “This charm’s all on the house.” Mike rolled his eyes, but he was still smiling. Richie counted it as a victory and backed up until he was leaning against the counter upon which the bottles were stacked. Richie watched as Mike aimed. His concentration face was precious, his brow all furrowed and pink lips pursed. He threw and missed. “It’s okay, baby, you’re still pretty,” Richie grinned. Mike shook his head. Max and Lucas smirked at each other knowingly as Mike aimed again. This time the ball grazed the bottles, but didn’t knock any down. Not a surprise, considering the bottles were weighted. But it wasn’t impossible to get them down. Richie gave Mike two thumbs up and assured him, “Third time’s the charm.” Mike was looking huffy again, but on his third throw he hit the top bottle dead on. It would’ve only knocked the top one down, but Richie gave the counter a subtle kick as the ball hit the bottle, knocking all of the bottles down. “Hey!” Richie cheered, clapping his hands. He was pleased to see surprised and impressed expressions on Max and Lucas’s faces, but the face he was most delighted by was Mike’s. A pout looked cute on him, but his beaming smile had Richie weak in the knees. “Knew you had it in ya! So, what’ll it be?” He swept his arm dramatically under the rows of stuffed toys and watched Mike’s eyes flicker across them. 

Eventually Mike shrugged and met Richie’s gaze, his brown eyes glittering. “You pick.”

Richie put his hand to his chin and theatrically contemplated his options before settling on a turtle. He leaned his elbows on the counter as he handed the plushie to Mike. “This guy’s pretty cute. Not as cute as you, of course, but you’re setting the bar pretty high.”

“I’m not playing another game, you know,” Mike giggled, accepting the turtle. 

“Oh, Mikey, I’m not trying to get you to play another round, I’m trying to get you to let me buy you a funnel cake at the end of my shift, maybe take a spin on the ferris wheel with me.”

Mike stammered, looked to Max and Lucas. Once his friends gave him their enthusiastic approval, Mike turned to Richie with a coy little smile that had Richie melting. “What time do you get off?”

It took all of Richie’s strength to not make a “getting off” joke, to not ruin this miraculous chance the universe had handed him. “Ten o’clock.”

“I’ll meet you at the ferris wheel at ten-fifteen.”

Richie beamed. “I’ll bring the funnel cake.”

And with that, Mike was practically skipping away from the booth, Max grabbing his arm excitedly and giggling into his shoulder, leaving Richie to watch after him with a dopey grin on his face. 10:15 couldn’t come fast enough.


End file.
